Oğuz Turan Buruk

CHI 2039: speculative research visions

This paper presents a curated collection of fictional abstracts for papers that could appear in the proceedings of the 2039 CHI Conference. It provides an opportunity to consider the various visions guiding work in HCI, the futures toward which we (believe we) are working, and how research in the field might relate with broader social, political, and cultural changes over the next quarter century.

Sensation: Measuring the Effects of a Human-to-Human Social Touch Based Controller on the Player Experience

We observe an increasing interest on usage of full-body interaction in games. However, human-to-human social touch interaction has not been implemented as a sophisticated gaming apparatus. To address this, we designed the Sensation, a device for detecting touch patterns between players, and introduce the game, Shape Destroy, which is a collaborative game designed to be played with social touch. To understand if usage of social touch has a meaningful contribution to the overall player experience in collaborative games we conducted a user study with 30 participants. Participants played the same game using i) the Sensation and ii) a gamepad, and completed a set of questionnaires aimed at measuring the immersion levels. As a result, the collected data and our observations indicated an increase in general, shared, ludic and affective involvement with significant differences. Thus, human-to-human touch can be considered a promising control method for collaborative physical games.

DubTouch: exploring human to human touch interaction for gaming in double sided displays

Human to human touch interaction (social touch) has not been investigated thoroughly as a control apparatus for gaming purposes although it holds potential. Therefore, we have developed the concept of DubTouch which is an interactive environment comprised of double sided display and touch areas where two players can touch each other. To investigate its potential, we conducted two step research method comprised of a user study and a design workshop. As a result of the user study with 10 participants, 6 categories of social touch patterns are generated. Two of these categories, found both intuitive and exclusive to DubTouch according to our evaluations. Design Workshop, with 10 experts, concluded with two games. The properties of control schemes of these games match with the results of the user study. Moreover, our observations showed that both games have created uncommon gaming experiences by utilizing social touch and by benefiting face to face positions of players.

It Made More Sense: Comparison of User-Elicited On-skin Touch and Freehand Gesture Sets

Research on gestural control interfaces is getting more widespread for the purpose of creating natural interfaces. Two of these popular gesture types are freehand and on-skin touch gestures, because they eliminate the use of an intermediary device. Previous studies investigated these modalities separately with user-elicitation methods; however, there is a gap in the field considering their comparison. In this study, we compare user-elicited on-skin touch and freehand gesture sets to explore users’ preferences. Thus, we conducted an experiment in which we compare 13 gestures to control computer tasks for each set. Eighteen young adults participated in our study and filled our survey consisted of NASA Task Load Index and 4 additional items of social acceptability, learnability, memorability, and the goodness. The results show that on-skin touch gestures were less physically demanding and more socially acceptable compared to freehand gestures. On the other hand, freehand gestures were more intuitive than on-skin touch gestures. Overall, our results suggest that different gesture types could be useful in different scenarios. Our contribution to the field might inspire designers and developers to make better judgments for designing new gestural interfaces for a variety of devices.

User Oriented Design Speculation and Implications for an Arm-Worn Wearable Device for Table-Top Role-Playing Games

Augmenting table-top role-playing games (TTRPG) with computers is an extensive research area. Nevertheless, wearable devices were not considered a part of TTRPG before. Previous studies speculate that wearables may be valuable additions for games by altering many aspects some of which can address TTRPG such as character identification. Still, we did not encounter a player oriented exploratory study which suggests possible utilization ways for these devices. Therefore, we organized a participatory design workshop with 25 participants aiming at eliciting ideas from users to produce design knowledge about the interaction techniques, actions, visual properties and the GM’s role. We also wanted to understand users’ overall reactions to the idea of wearables in TTRPG. The workshop resulted in 5 conceptual device designs which led to design implications that can guide designers in this unexplored area. Moreover, we proposed a speculative arm-worn device drawing upon these implications.

Augmented Table-Top Role-Playing Game with Movement-Based Gameplay and Arm-Worn Devices

Augmenting table-top role-playing games (TTRPG) is a trending subject in game research. Different objects and interaction modalities such as surface displays, tangible devices or interactive rooms are used for the augmentation of TTRPG. Still, usage of wearable devices and movement-based gameplay in such games is a rather underexplored area although they have a potential for enhancing the player experience according to the previous studies. To delve into this area, we developed a new interactive environment comprised of arm-worn devices and an augmented die. These devices, together with a new role-playing game system, facilitate movement-based gameplay which encourage players to enact their characters with their bodies. In this paper, we explained the specifications of this gaming environment and our demonstration setting.

Experiencing Human-to-Human Touch in Digital Games

Digital games have been equipped with novel control styles which promotes natural interaction. However, Human-to-Human Social Touch (HHST) has not been investigated as a gaming apparatus thoroughly. We believe that HHST can be a valuable contribution since it can convey different messages with different patterns and would provide a rich collaborative experience with physical contact. To explore this area, we developed the Sensation which is a control apparatus detecting the different touch types between two players. To observe the gaming experience we implemented the game, Shape Destroy, and conducted a user study with 30 participants to understand its effects on player experience. Results showed that HHST, provided by the Sensation, added to game experience boosting social, ludic and emotional aspects.

WEARPG: Movement-Based Tabletop Role-Playing Game with Arm-Worn Devices and an Augmented Die

Augmenting tabletop role-playing games (TTRPG) with computers took much attention of researchers recently. Nevertheless, these efforts mostly remained as functional augmentations. We believe that integrating new gameplay styles to this genre is still an underexplored area. Drawing upon the previous studies, we believe that wearables which support movement-based gameplay can be a good step taken in this direction as previous studies claim that wearables can strengthen the link to the imaginary worlds which is critical for TTRPG experience while the movement-based play can increase the player engagement. However, previous studies did not investigate these concepts with an implemented technology. Therefore, to get a better understanding of how wearables can alter the TTRPG experience, we designed a new RPG game system and developed the Elemental Gauntlet and the Luck Stone which enable movement-based game play in TTRPG context. Our preliminary results showed that, movement-based play and wearable props strengthen the identification feeling with the fictional character and resulted in a better immersion to the imaginary world of the game.

Forming Visual Expressions With Augmented Fashion

Wearable devices have a crucial impact on our bodies since they directly affect our appearance. However, wearable design practitioners focus more on the practical functionalities of the technology, leaving more investigation needed on what kind of visual expressions the technology might enable on wearable devices. With a critical approach on this functional perspective, the authors conducted a design workshop with fashion design and engineering students in which they first created art expressions and then wearable devices by using technological components. This practitioner’s essay reflects on the resulting hands-on design experiences in new visual expressions that would not have been possible with just traditional materials.

Code notes: designing a low-cost tangible coding tool for/with children

Programming has become an essential subject for todays education curriculum and as a result, the importance of creating the right environments to teach is increasing. For such environments, featuring tangible tools enhances creativity and collaboration. However, due to their high prices, current tangible tools are not reachable by most of the students. We developed Code Notes as a low-cost, attainable and tangible tool aimed to motivate children to support programming education. Code Notes is comprised of an Android app and code-cardboards to teach the basic concepts in programming. We continue to develop the platform with insights gained from children. This paper shares the design phases of Code Notes and observations from our two-month programming project. We also presented some future concepts of Code Notes that offer an active and embodied interaction with the teaching material.